A pool of blood outside a house at 18 James St. where police say an out-of-control house party led to a triple shooting early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

A pool of blood outside a house at 18 James St. where police say an out-of-control house party led to a triple shooting early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo: Jonathan Lucas

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A bullet lodged in the handle of a Ford Thunderbird parked next to the site of a triple shooting in the Cove early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

A bullet lodged in the handle of a Ford Thunderbird parked next to the site of a triple shooting in the Cove early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo: Jonathan Lucas

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Stamford police investigate the shootng of three men that occurred early Saturday, April 6, 2013 in the Cove.

Stamford police investigate the shootng of three men that occurred early Saturday, April 6, 2013 in the Cove.

Photo: Jonathan Lucas

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A bullet flew threw the window of a house neighboring the location of a triple shooting in the Cove early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

A bullet flew threw the window of a house neighboring the location of a triple shooting in the Cove early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo: Jonathan Lucas

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The house at 18 James St. in the Cove where police say an out-of-control house party led to a triple shooting early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

The house at 18 James St. in the Cove where police say an out-of-control house party led to a triple shooting early Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo: Jonathan Lucas

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Triple shooting in the Cove

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STAMFORD -- A birthday party for a 15-year-old girl turned a quiet beach neighborhood in the Cove into a combat zone early Saturday morning as suspected rival gangs from the East and West sides of the city traded gunfire sending three men to Stamford Hospital with gunshot wounds.

Stray bullets hit two nearby houses and parked cars. One bullet came within inches of striking a woman sitting in her bed in a house adjacent to the party at 18 James St.

"There were so many shots in succession, I thought it was fireworks," said Renee Deschaine, who lives in a second-floor apartment next door and was forced to dive out of bed to take cover. "There were at least 25 shots. ... We're all just stunned."

The three men hit by gunfire all suffered non-life-threatening wounds and two have been treated and released from Stamford Hospital. The third, a 22-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg and was admitted to the hospital following surgery.

The other victims are both 21, and one sustained a wound to the left forearm; the other was hit in the right shoulder.

Police have recovered two weapons suspected to be involved in the incident. One was recovered at Stamford Hospital, another was found in a motor vehicle stopped just after the shooting near Cummings Park.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident, and police are seeking leads from the public in searching for the suspects.

When officers arrived soon after 12:30 a.m., they found a large crime scene with multiple shell casings from four weapons and several blood trails, Stamford police Lt. Diedrich Hohn said.

Police said the shooting appears to have been caused after the party in the basement at 18 James St. got wild. A fight broke out as several unwanted guests were being removed from the house.

A witness watching the scene from his doorstep next door said the scene could have been far worse, as a pack of nearly 40 people were in the street just minutes before the shooting broke out.

The man, who requested not to be identified, said he has lived on James Street with his parents for the past 20 years, said he heard one of the men suspected in the shooting say "let's see what we can get into." As the men were getting kicked out, one said: "Let me go grab that."

Seconds later, a girl ran out of the house so fast that she left a shoe behind in the front yard and then the shooting started, the witness said.

The man said he ran for cover and shouted to his parents to hit the floor in Spanish as he dialed 911.

A bullet then smashed through a window of his house, narrowly missing his mother's head as the family crawled to a basement stairwell for safety. The bullet ricocheted off a wall before lodging itself inside a wall an inch away from a portrait of Our Lady of Quinche -- the patron saint of Ecuador.

"It was overwhelming," said Deschaine, whose Ford Thunderbird was hit in the crossfire. "It seemed like (the shooting) was never going to stop."